Flint, Mich. – The Firebirds fought hard but were unable to solve the pesky Spitfires in Flint Saturday night. Windsor has now won six of seven games versus the Birds, with one more meeting remaining on Sunday afternoon. For Flint, Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg Jets), Ethan Keppen (Vancouver Canucks), and Ethan Hay struck paydirt. Wyatt Johnston (Dallas Stars) netted a hat trick to lead the Spits, and Daniel D’Amico, Michael Renwick, and Matthew Maggio also found twine. Between the pipes, third-year netminder Mathias Onuska picked up his 11th win of the season with 24 saves on 27 shots. Across the ice, first-year goalie Nathaniel Day made 37 saves on 42 shots in just his eighth OHL appearance.
The Spitfires were first to light the lamp, only 4:54 into the opening frame. Wyatt Johnston (Dallas Stars) picked the pocket of a Firebirds’ defenseman in his left offensive corner and skated across the bottom of the left-wing circle. He exercised patience as he carried across the slot in front of Day, slipping the puck just inside the far post, past the left pad for his 33rd of the season, unassisted.
Flint won the center-ice faceoff after Johnston’s tally and maintained possession in their offensive zone. Dmitry Kuzmin set up a give-and-go from the left point, passing to Ty Petrou in open ice before receiving the return feed along the left half boards. From the bottom of the left circle, he sniped the five-hole for his 14th of the campaign at 5:12.
At the 11:19 mark, Ethan Keppen scored his second goal of the weekend after missing his initial shot high over the crossbar. The puck hit the end boards and caromed into the right-wig corner. James Petrovski chased down the loose puck and fed Othmann in the right circle. Flint’s Captain looked for a shot with Onuska out to challenge before feeding Keppen across the low slot for the one-timer. The goal was Keppen’s 17th of the season and 31st point in his 31st game back with the Birds.
The Firebirds held the 2-1 lead after the 20 minutes of play, despite being outshot 14-12. Flint outdrew the Spits 13-12 in the first, and both squads failed to score on their lone power-play chance.
With their first man-advantage of the middle stanza, Windsor used a two-on-one down low to tie the game at a pair. Will Cuylle (New York Rangers) dug the puck out of the corner and fed Matthew Maggio in the right circle. Maggio slipped a pass across the slot to Johnston at the bottom of the left circle for a one-timer behind Day. The power-play goal was Johnston’s team-leading 34th of the season, scored at 3:58.
Just past the midway point of period two, Maggio had a close-range shot on Day from the right-wing side. The young netminder blockered it to the far side, but Daniel D’Amico was in position to slap the rebound home for his 19th of the season. Maggio and Livonia, Mich. native Ryan Abraham assisted on the even-strength marker at 10:03.
The Spitfires led 3-2 after 40 minutes. Second-period shots ended 16-5 to the visitors’ advantage, whereas the Firebirds won more faceoffs by a margin of 14-10. Windsor went 1-for-4 on the power play while Flint was 0-for-1.
Johnston completed his hat trick at the 5:24 mark of the third period. The play started when he won an offensive zone faceoff back to the right rearguard. As Johnston crashed the net, Michael Renwick made the D-to-D pass to Louka Henault at the left point. Henault launched a heavy slapper that Johnston was able to redirect past Day to extend the Spits’ lead to 4-2.
The next Windsor goal came at 14:23, off another offensive-zone faceoff win. This time Jacob Maillet won the draw in the right circle to his winger Josh Currie. Currie fed Michael Renwick centered high above the circles, and his ensuing slapper hit a player’s equipment in the slot and redirected over Day’s right shoulder for his seventh of the season.
Dmitry Kuzmin held the puck in at the blue line with under five minutes remaining in regulation. He deked around the lone Spitfires’ forward in his path and rocketed up the right-wing boards. He carried in behind the Windsor goal before hitting the brakes and passing back to Ethan Hay adjacent to the right post. Hay slipped the puck between the post and Onuska’s left skate for his sixth of the season at 15:46, assisted by Kuzmin and Michael MacLean.
Flint used their one timeout with 2:35 to play in the contest. Day was called to the bench for the extra attacker near the 90-second mark. Despite two very close calls at the Spitfires’ net, it was Maggio scoring his 31st on the empty net to conclude the scoring for the night. Some physicality after the final whistle set the tone for the rematch between these clubs tomorrow afternoon at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.
Final shots were 43-27 to Windsor’s advantage. Faceoffs ended 42-30 and favored Flint. The Firebirds were scoreless on three power-play chances while killing four of five penalties in the game.
Story: Brandon Mills/flintfirebirds.com
Photography: Todd Boone / Flint Firebirds